The X-Files - 6.

STARRING:

David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder

Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully

Mitch Pileggi as Assistant Director Walter Skinner

Guest Cast:

Mimi Rogers as Agent Diana Fowley

Chris Owens as Agent Spender

Jeff Gulka as Gibson Praise

William B. Davis as Cancer Man

Don S. Williams as First Elder

George Murdock as Second Elder

Wayne Thomas Yorke as 1st Workman

Kim Robillard as 2nd Workman (Homer)

Rick Millikan as Sandy

Arthur Taxier as A.D. P. Bart

Wayne Alexander as A.D. G. Arnold

Wendie Malick as A.D. L. Maslin

Scott Eberlein as Black Haired Man

Ralph Meyering, Jr. as Surgeon

Benito Martinez as Orderly

James Pickens, Jr. as Assistant Director Kersh

Christopher Neiman as ?

Alan Henry Brown as ?

Got on board a westbound 747

Didn't think before deciding what to do

All that talk of opportunities, TV breaks and movies

Rang true, sure rang true

from Albert Hammond's "It Never Rains In Southern California"

Snakes crawling in the house

I'm stuck in muddy ground

Tonight I'm gonna shed this skin

from Bruce Springsteen's "Trouble River (I Can't Keep From Crying)"

Well, I may not be crying, but there was far too much shedding of skin and Skinners for my taste! And if that Fowley isn't a "snake crawling in the house", I'll eat my keyboard. The Vancouver rain's gone, the movie aliens are back, Spender, Fowley and Gibson, the Consortium Lab Rat, are back, even the old and creaky opening credits AND tagline are back (where'd the brand-spankin' new ones we were promised go?!) but I'm not so sure about the fans. Strap yourselves in, kids, it's just ... "The Beginning" ...

Plotline

After a quick update through scenes from both The End and The Movie, we're hit by a blinding shot of the sun. Put on your shades, baby, we've arrived in California (masquerading as Phoenix, Arizona). The camera pans down to the desert as two men run towards a white van marked as "Roush Technologies". I remember them, weren't they the bad guys way back in Redux 2? Haven't heard a peep about them since, might we finally get some answers? Not from these geeks, they're just ... ahem, taking care of business miles from any gas station washrooms. As they enter the van, a fellow car pool member calls one a dipwad and he retaliates with the universal one-finger salute. We must be in America, Canadians are too damn polite to use that gesture ;-) They drive off and soon another passenger, Sandy, starts to sweat and shiver in the sweltering heat (no jackets on anyone in the car, do they even bother selling them in Arizona?). He's told to hold it 'till he gets home which he does, thankfully. The van drops him off and as soon as he enters his house, still shivering, he cranks up the heat from 60 to 80 then the readout simply says "HI". Sandy sits on his couch, the sunlight blasting in from a window behind him, his body shaking uncontrollably. He begins to moan softly, then raises his hand ... his alien hand covered with translucent skin, that is! Ewwww!

A newspaper lands on Sandy's lawn signalling the beginning of a new day. The car pool van pulls up in front of his house and sounds out two short blasts of the horn. Barely a second later (sheesh, barely gives a guy a chance to pull on his shoes), the recipient of the one-finger salute earlier jumps out of the van and knocks on the door. As he does, the camera pans over Sandy's picture collection inside the house. Pretty lonely guy, they're all of him in his lovely lab coat.

The man opens the door, calling for Sandy to hurry up and starts to loosen his tie as the house is so hot. He looks at the thermostat which still reads "HI" and continues calling and looking for Sandy. He spots the top of his head over the back of the couch, moves around to the front and his mouth drops open in shock. Not much left of Sandy, his chest cavity is completely gone and there's blood everywhere. He backs away to leave and hears a high-pitched noise which makes him spin around to face something. We cut to the van as his associates read newspapers and check their watches then back inside as something crashes through glass and leaps for the man. Munching noises from inside the living-room, then the man begins to stagger for the door, his shirt drenched in blood. He grabs for the handle but it slips through his blood-soaked fingers. With one final attempt, he reaches for the doorknob then is dragged away as we hear his screams. They're heeeeere!

Next we see Mulder sitting in front of a fancy-shmancy computer. He's gently and carefully putting together a puzzle consisting of pieces of burnt paper with the help of a magnifier and the computer screen. We can barely make out the words, "X-FILES: INVESTIGATION" and the number 111470 just below it. Aha! The files from the burned office are rising like Phoenix from the ashes.

The scene fades into Mulder talking to yet another FBI Office Of Professional Review, the interogation table packed with A.D.s including Skinner (don't get too comfy, hun). Mulder tells them he is slowly putting together the files he lost but what he's recovered already will allow him and Scully to go back to work on the X-files. Not so fast, bub, there's the small matter of this nonsense in Antarctica to explain first. Scully enters the room and takes a seat beside Mulder, not looking exactly thrilled to be there. While I honestly didn't think they could swing it, they manage to explain the whole movie plot in a few minutes, even comparing it to "Men In Black". Mulder, when asked to provide proof, confidently tells them that Scully was infected with this virus, a virus she can prove is extraterrestrial, take it away, Scully! ... Ummmm, Scully? ... The floor's yours, tell 'em all about the alien spaceship and the tube down your throat and the goo ... She opens her mouth to speak, then thinks twice about it and Mulder, realizing she's not going to be any help, just stares at her in disbelief.

Next we see them leaving the conference room, Mulder storming out ahead of Scully, saying, "Next time, I'll wear a clown suit and do balloon tricks." He, he, isn't that the plotline for episode number 11? ;-) He's furious at Scully for claming up, her scientific proof was all he had to rely on. But Scully's not sure about anything that happened and didn't really see very much. She's run tests on the virus but still can't identify it except to say it is definitely "of this world". She never saw any alien babies inside human hosts like Mulder did and can't say the virus actually creates anything, just destroys cells. She's just a big ol' fat help, eh? Mulder just glares at her when she says he can't question the science on this one. He storms off again and she lets out a sigh right along with the audience. We're back to the beginning all right, Scully's the skeptic scientist and Mulder's the bull-headed believer again.

The action shifts to New York and the smokey Consortium meeting room. Cancer Man flashes slides of Sandy's bloodied body on a screen, apologizing for the sloppiness in Phoenix. The scientist must have accidently injected himself while working on the virus. The First Elder is concerned the press got ahold of these charming snapshots but Cancer Man says he placated them with a yarn about a mad Indian on the loose (where did THAT come from?). Of more concern is how the creature took a mere 12 hours to gestate then promptly killed a guy just after birth. The Second Elder takes the place of the dearly departed Well-Manicured Man and spouts out, "God almighty!" The creature must be found and stopped, Cancer Man's on the job.

Back in his new office, Mulder works away on restoring his burned files, alone and with only one desk in sight. The door opens, letting in some light (you're going to hurt your eyes literally working in the dark, Mulder) and Skinner walks in to announce the committee's decision ... Mulder and Scully will not be reassigned to the X-files, gasp! Poor Mulder is stunned while poor Skinner is saddled with dialogue such as, deep breath ... "When will you accept that no amount of pressure or reason will bring to heel a conspiracy whose members walk these halls with absolute impunity?" Man, let a guy leave with some shred of dignity intact, will ya, Chris? Anyway, Mulder asks how the voting went and is told it was unanimous. Skinner, how could you?! Mulder gathers his files, all in little baggies, into a box, shuts off his computer and glares at Skinner as he stands in his way at the doorway. Skinner says it wouldn't have helped if he'd been outside the majority vote anyway. Mulder says, "Inside or out, I don't see that there's a damn thing you can do for me." Au contraire, my friend, Skinner's left a file folder on his old office desk containing proof of the alien virus. Way to go, big fella, I knew you wouldn't let me down!

Next we see Mulder entering the old office, now cleaned up with the walls bare and managing to maintain plant life, something Mulder never bothered to try. The desk contains nothing but a file folder, surprising nobody beat him to it. He sets the box down and opens the file to find yet another shot of Sandy's gory death scene. In another part of the office, one I don't recall seeing in the old version, Agent Spender pipes up, wanting to know what Mulder's doing. He sets the file back down and asks what the heck a brown-nose like Spender's doing in his office, he'll be damned if he'll let Spender take his place. But Spender still thinks Mulder's work is "paranormal mumbo jumbo", he's not taking his place ... cue Agent Diana Fowley's entrance. Yes, the woman we saw shot and out of it at the end of last season, presumably in a coma or something during the movie timeline, is now fit as a fiddle and raring to go, sheesh! As Mulder observes, fit enough to stab him in the back it seems. He gathers up his box and walks out of the office. The new X-files team look at each other, then walk into The Office to get to work. Without the file folder, which is now missing.

Somewhere in a medical facility we come upon Cancer Man flagrantly flaunting a "No Smoking" sign glowing in the darkness behind him and lighting up a ciggie. He walks into the operating room, puffing away, and the doctors working on a patient's head look up at him in surprise but no one dares to speak. Cancer Man tells them to get the boy ready, he's taking him on a little trip, but one of the doctors says this could kill the kid. Slap a bandaid on him, "it's him or it's us." Really enjoyed the effect of Cancer Man's smoke illuminated by the light on the doctor's head. He leaves in a cloud of smoke and the camera pans down to show the patient, Gibson Praise, shaved bald, his head strapped to a restraining device and his brain open for surgery, ewwwww. Worse, he's fully awake and alert.

In Phoenix, Mulder and Scully arrive at Sandy's house and Mulder marches in the front door. Scully stays back and tries to explain to him that they're breaking the law by simply being there, especially without telling the local cops. But he isn't listening as she says to herself (and to us, 'cause it cracked me up), "Why do I bother?" She closes the door behind them, taking note of the blood-drenched and scratched door. Then Mulder calls her over to see some very deep and long scratches on the hallway wall, supposedly made by the attacking Indian's bare hands according to the official report. Yeah, right, and these deep gashes in the hardwood floor were done by someone's hands? Don't think so. Mulder spots something within the wall marks and pulls it out. It's a nail and not RuPaul's! From the report, it seems the man on the couch died hours before the other scientist so the attacker must have stayed behind and waited. But, no, Mulder says, it wasn't really an attack, more like a birthday celebration as he pieces together that the man on the couch must have given birth to an alien. That Mulder and his wacky theories, Scully finds it all hard to digest.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to our heroes, Cancer Man and Gibson, his head all bandaged and bleeding a nice red line across his skull, are seated outside the house in a car. The kid tells him the alien was definitely here but is now gone and the driver volunteers to check anyway. Gibson seems to get nervous and makes it clear the alien's not there now (he obviously knows Mulder and Scully are inside and doesn't want Cancer Man's thug to find them). He tells Cancer Man he knows he's afraid of him and wants to kill him, "You think I can destroy you for what I know, because of what I am." He also knows his goose is cooked if he can't find the alien. Cancer Man's sure he will find it and they drive off.

Just as they do, Mulder and Scully leave the house, whew, good timing, kids. Mulder doesn't understand why Scully can't believe his theory when she agrees with him that the report is bogus. What will it take for her to believe? A bite on the butt? He saw the creatures in the Arctic and she would have too if she'd been healthy and hadn't passed out (how damn convenient). She clasps his hand in hers, with an action-grip as opposed to a tender touch, the camera lingers to fool us into thinking we have a Big Moment coming up, we clutch our boxes of Kleenex in preparation ... She tells him she knows what happened to her and what he did to help her. She remembers him saying her science had saved him and made him a whole person, which is why she can't change now, it wouldn't be right or honest. He drops her hand, says, "I'm sorry, Scully, but this time your science is wrong." and walks away. We all sit back in our chairs and shake our heads, duped again.

Cut to Rolling Hills Nuclear Power Plant, just east of Phoenix, as we see a man sleeping on the job to the tune of "Put On A Happy Face" blaring out of a tape player. Before all of us Simpsons fans can say, "Hi, Homer!", sure enough, his fellow employee says, "Wake up, Homer." Groan, this was the cute Simpsons joke? Lame. Anyway, it seems there's a problem with the temperature in the system, maybe even the core reactor, Homer has to go check it out. He switches off the tape player which is starting to become quite annoying, then makes matters worse by singing the song to himself as he heads off to investigate.

In time-honoured horror movie fashion, this next scene takes far too long and has zero pay-off. In a nutshell, Homer Hears A Who ... I mean, a noise among the pipes and creeps closer to it. He sees something, maybe an alien hand, creeping out from behind the pipes and, for some reason, tries to poke at it with his wrench. Keep singing that damn song, Homer, that'll scare it off! But, no, he verrrry slowly continues to poke away until the hand finally lashes out and grabs him. Cue the cameraman's orders to now move away from all the action so we can't see a darn thing but we get to listen to Homer's blood-curdling screams.

Time has passed and the power plant is now crawling with cops as Mulder and Scully pull up in their car (with Scully behind the wheel no less). Spender, in his nifty FBI jacket, quickly stops them as they walk towards the plant, "Authorized officers and personnel only. This is a closed area." Rub it in, why don't ya? Scully tells him they got a call about a man being murdered here and Spender asks if it was from A.D. Skinner. He'll see to it Mulder and Scully pay for disobeying orders and have Skinner's actions reviewed. Hey, don't drag Skinner into this, buster, your fight's with Mulder, leave my boy alone, grrrrrrr. Diana appears and Mulder appeals to her to let them onto the crime scene but she says she can't, that the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) has had it sealed. No one was murdered, it was merely an accident due to a systems failure. She tells Mulder the case may be linked to two other deaths and a case file stolen from their office (cringe, *their* office). He assures her it is related and as Scully leads him away he says to Fowley, "I hope you know whose errand you're running." Back at their car, Mulder tells her they know the alien is there and she asks how they can know, how does *he* know? He looks in the back seat of the car, tells her to give him the keys and get in. As he heads for the driver's seat, she slowly opens the back door and slips in to the seat where Gibson is lying down. She cradles his little bandaged head in her lap and tries to wake him up, "Gibson? Gibson, sweetheart?" But she gets no response.

Time passes and we're now at the Camelback View Motel. Gibson is sitting up in Scully's bed, propped up with pillows as she sits next to him and tenderly cuts away his bandage. As she finally reveals his angry-red scars, Mulder enters the room and sits down next to her. Hey, at least we got them in bed together ;-) You can't hide much from Gibson as he reads Scully's thoughts, "Frankenstein? Really?" No, no, she assures him, the doctors did a fine and dandy job, don't worry. But he knows she thinks they were butchers which Mulder agrees with. Nice going, Mulder, scare the kid, couldn't you think about "Baywatch" again? Scully gives Gibson the goods, admits that his bandages should have been changed and he now has some swelling, infection and a fever. Why on earth did someone do this to him? Because he can read minds, he says. Well, d'uh! That explains everything, doesn't it? He tells them he snuck into their car when the others weren't looking, so much easier when you can read their minds and he's being used to communicate with "it". Scully asks what and he says, "You already know. You just don't want to believe it."

Scully and Mulder share a look and move away from the bed to chat. Mulder's all excited, Gibson could help them find the alien, but Doctor Scully reminds him the kid belongs in the hospital under constant care. He just might be what they speculated in The End, the key to everything in the X-files, the scientific connection and proof. As Mulder says, though, they're not in charge of the X-files anymore, why bother? Right, Mulder would give up that easily? Don't think so. Scully brings him back to his senses, saying the kid may be their last and best chance. They both look over at Gibson. He looks at them, knowing every word they just said, of course.

Next we see Mulder carrying Gibson out to the car where Scully waits in the driver's seat. He puts the kid in the back as a car approaches, its headlights blinding them both and providing a cover for the unknown driver. A voice calls from the car, telling Mulder she's alone. It's that annoying Fowley, get rid of her, Mulder! He closes the car door and heads over to her car, slightly annoyed and asking why she's there. She wants to reassure him that his work on the X-files is safe with her and she grabbed the assignment when it was offered, she didn't ask for it. After all, they found the X-files together. *shudder* Hearing her say this sent a chill down my spine. She tells him the creature is somewhere in the number 4 reactor building, does he want "them" to find it and kill it or will he come with her to find it? He scoots over to Scully still sitting in the car and performs the First Official Dump of the season, albeit a nice one where he actually tells her where he's going for once. Off on a little alien hunting, my dear, take care of Gibson and don't wait up.

In Diana's car, she tells Mulder the body at the power plant was gone by the time she arrived on the scene with Spender (after a phone tip from the NRC people apparently. Man, their office chairs are barely warm and they already have shadowy informants?). She's not sure who swiped the body, nobody would fess up, but the number 4 reactor was soon sealed off due to heat transfer problems, which she believes to be the truth. A lightbulb flicks on over Mulder's head. Heat, the creature needs extreme heat (remember how they stopped its growth with extreme cold in the movie?) but why seek it out now, after it's been born? "What if it's still developing?" Fowley asks, he didn't expect any of this to make sense, did he? Mulder picks his jaw off the floor, not used to anyone else thinking as he does, then says simply, "No." Together in spirit, they drive onwards.

Cut to the hospital as Scully arrives with Gibson. He's wheeled in on a gurney as she walks beside him, reassuring him that he'll be fine. You can't fool this kid, though, he knows they're going to run more tests on him and Scully admits that they must if he wants to get better. He knows she merely wants to learn from him. Poor Scully's face tells us both that he's right and she hates herself for it. Frankly, the kid *should* be worried, very few children get away from Scully intact! As he's whisked onto a bed, she ensures him he's a special boy and he snorts back, "I'm a very special lab rat." The curtain is snapped shut, leaving Scully to her thoughts, maybe flashing back to the last lab rat she had to deal with, Emily.

Back to the power plant as Mulder and Fowley (ouch, hurts my fingers to type that!) investigate where Homer's body was found. Mulder is stopped in his tracks as he steps in a pile of what looks like goo. They both kneel down beside it and Mulder sticks his fingers in, ewwww. At least he doesn't make like Fraser on "Due South" and taste it. Especially after his lame joke about someone having the flu, double ewwww. Our intrepid detectives follow the slime trail further into the plant and the ominous pipes until they reach the exact spot where Homer died. Mulder spots Homer's dropped wrench (nobody picked it up earlier?) and gets a closer look at the pipes, all scratched by deep grooves he should recognize. But no, our boy starts to stick his nose in further, just like the hapless Homer did then jumps back with a start when he hears something ... something slimey and gooshy moving around. "There's something in there." Well, yeah, Mulder, so get your face outta there! He foolishly pops back in to poke around again and spots something. With nary a thought as to what might be attached to it, he drags out what appears to be a big chunk of gooey skin material. It drops onto the floor and he hunkers down to check it out.

Both Mulder and Fowley nearly jump out of *their* skins as the shrill ring of his cellphone echoes off the pipes. It's Scully calling from the hospital to report on Gibson's startling test results. They've found the virus in his system and Scully's pretty sure it's the same one she was infected with. What could it all mean? Scully doesn't know, but it could be a link. "I'll call that bet and raise you." says Mulder cryptically. Without telling her what he's found, of course, as that would make it all crystal-clear, he tells her to just keep an eye on the kid.

Cue Cancer Man's thug/driver dressed in a blue hospital uniform as he whips back the curtain surrounding Gibson. Soon afterwards Scully heads for his room and finds his bed empty. She loses her nut as she yells at the staff who appear to be wandering aimlessly around the hallway. They haven't a clue where he is. But we do, in the back of an ambulance being driven by Old Smokey's thug, oh no!

Back inside the power plant, Mulder and Fowley continue their investigation and soon spot Gibson and the goon on a walkway above their heads. The agents run around, circling and following the others and I'm shocked they weren't spotted or at least heard, Fowley's heels verily rattle the rafters. After much more chasing than is possibly necessary in an hour-long show, throughout the cinematic plant full of murky corners and spooky shadows, they finally stop as Gibson and the thug reach their destination. They enter a room of some kind surrounding a vat of super-charged water bubbling with nuclear rods. It's here somewhere, Gibson tells him. They walk down a set of stairs, reaching the level where Mulder and Fowley can see them through a locked door's window. Mulder pounds on the glass, yelling at them to open the door. Fowley says she'll look for another entrance and runs off. Gosh, I don't know, what about the door where they came in upstairs? Just a thought, I

don't have all those years of FBI training or anything.

As Mulder continues to pound on the glass, Gibson and the thug spot something. "I told you it was here." Bit late, kid, just like that Fowley shooting! The creature grabs the bad guy and the window in front of Mulder is soon splattered with blood as the thug's head is slammed against it with great force. Continously. Blood and brain bits everywhere, really messy stuff, don't watch it, kids. Now Mulder can see the kid and the alien staring at each other and he yells out Gibson's name. Suddenly an alarm starts to sound, Fowley rushes down a set of stairs and she's got Mulder in her gun-sights. He stares at her in shock, then snaps his head back to look through the window. Gibson's gone, along with the alien, all we can see is the dead body of the thug.

Next we see Mulder and Scully seated before the Office Of Professional Review again, the same table full of A.D.s before them ... except for one. Skinner's chair is empty! Dear God, what have they done to Skinner?! The same woman from the opening, A.D. Maslin, lays it on the line for our agents. "You and Agent Scully will cease all material association with the X-Files. Refusal to do so will end in immediate dismissal. A probationary period will be set. You will now report to Assistant Director Kersh." The camera settles on an African-American man we've never seen before. A rather by-the-book, stern and haughty-looking man, as a matter of fact, or so I assessed in the 5 seconds we saw him :-) Scully looks to Mulder for a reaction, but Mulder doesn't budge and is silent.

Mulder's face at the hearing now fades into Spender's face in his office as he receives a visitor. Gasp, it's his smokey father! Don't you know what he did last time he was there, Jeffy? Hide the matches! Spender's surprised to see him, Cancer Man had made a deal not to show up there (!), but he just wanted to pop by and congratulate his "son" on his handling of Mulder, (bit of a shiver when he calls him "son") saying he'll be on thin ice now. But, as we all know, Mulder will be back, says Spender. Cancer Man admits there are certain solutions, ones he's used before, but not in this situation. Spender's flabbergasted. You mean you've killed people, Daddy? Cancer Man has the line of the night for me, with a curl of a crooked smile and the smoke rising before his face, "You can kill a man but you can't kill what he stands for. Not unless you first break his spirit. That's a beautiful thing to see." (insert evil laughter, it was indeed beautiful)

We drop in on the spirited Mulder as he works away in his new office, still piecing together those files. Couldn't have just backed them up, could you, Mulder? All this modern technology at your fingertips and you didn't take the time to back up a few discs. Let this be a lesson to us all. Scully knocks and walks in, closing the door when Mulder says, "It would make it harder for them to see that I'm totally disregarding everything I was told." She reminds him that should be "WE" not just "I", she's up to her pretty little neck as well. They can't shut down the X-files, he says, they've tried that before (and before that and one other time and ... we're not frightened anymore, so chin up, Mulder). Scully's there to tell Mulder about Fowley's report to OPR, seems it doesn't quite match up to his version. "I hope you haven't been betrayed." He says it was all to protect the X-files. According to Fowley's report, the man he saw attacked by an alien beast was merely bludgeoned by an unknown subject. There's no mention of Gibson and no one seems to know where he is. The report protects everything ... except Mulder. He's all defensive now, says Fowley put herself at risk just taking him there and he did see a creature, one she refuses to believe in. Diana saw it as well, even if she didn't report it. Scully tells him it's not a matter of doubt, it's a matter of trust and he has to trust her judgement.

She goes to hand him a file folder, but he backs away, thinking it's her report. It's a DNA test of that claw-nail they found in Sandy's wall, it matches the virus' DNA exactly. Mulder grabs the file from her hands, wild-eyed with expectation at what this all means. "That's the connection." He's told it also matches Gibson's DNA, which throws him off. You mean the kid was infected with the virus? Not quite, says Scully, it's just a part of his DNA, in fact, a part of all of us. It's a "genetic remnant", "inactive junk DNA" for the rest of us but Gibson's is turned on. But ... if that's true, then Gibson would be part alien. "It would mean that all of us are." Ooooooo! Spooky stuff, Scully.

Cut to the power plant as we find Gibson (not sure why nobody else could!) hiding behind some pipes in the room where the creature attacked the thug. The camera slips into the super-heated water in the center of the room and through the bubbles we see the creature perched on the bottom. We watch with fascination as the skin on its arms and head peels away. It emerges from this cocoon a changed alien, gaining another finger (he now has 5) and a more humanistic head. Why, he looks just like whatever the heck Scully saw scampering around in Paper Clip ... in the Strughold mine.

Notes

I can think of nothing that expresses my feelings better than the words of the fab Autumn Tysko <http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/1411/main_rev.html>, "At least it was better than Redux." No, wait, I can add to that. At least it wasn't a 2-parter.

I shouldn't be cruel, it certainly wasn't a bad episode (see Space, Teso dos Bichos or El Mundo Gira for better examples of a truly BAD episode), just not quite what I'd hoped for after waiting so long. After all of the hoopla surrounding The Big Screen Movie (this ep's just a remake or recap if you somehow missed it) and the worry and concern about the move to L.A., the seven months (that's right, 7!) between seasons nearly killed us. Personally, over the last month, I've noted a painful ache creeping into my heart. I really missed this crowd and had such high expectations that I was doomed to disappointment, I guess. So where, you ask, did it all go wrong for me?

- The partnership, the anchor of this ship (no 'shipper puns intended), is sinking yet again. Mulder's soul-stirring and emotional outpouring to Scully in the movie's hallway scene is cheapened here by her repeating it to him in a throwaway scene. He wasn't merely talking about her science in that speech, I don't care what they say in this episode. And how dare he question Scully's motives when she tries to warn him about Fowley. Wake up, Mulder, the woman pulled a gun on you! Okay, so

Scully's shot you once (Anasazi), but it was for your own good, she's the one you can trust. We certainly did seem to head back to The Beginning. He's back to being the stubborn and selfish loner she met in The Pilot and she's the same old I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it scientist Scully. After everything that happened to these two in the movie, they should be a united front against Them, not off chasing aliens with ex-lover/partners and fighting over reports. Maybe with the revelation she laid on him at the end they'll be a unit again by next week, but this was uncomfortable to watch as they drifted further apart.

- The alien's big appearance, the first time we've ever really seen one on the show, should have been HUGE. Not the creature itself, but the big scene, this needed to be an in-your-face moment. But no, we get cheap horror movie effects of buildup and let-down, a slab of discarded skin then a murky underwater shot of the dude evolving into a little grey man. Yawn.

- While I see potential for Spender's role in the series, after all it will mean more scenes with Cancer Man and that's a bonus for me, I have to jump on the Die-Fowley-Die bandwagon. She's gotta go. I never have trusted her and don't believe a word she says. Might her role be enriched if we knew who she worked for? Is Cancer Man using her as well as his kid? And just how did she heal so quickly, hmmm? Remember how Cancer Man helped heal Mulder's mother in Herrenvolk? This scenerio might keep me interested, Cancer Man pulling the strings on the "new" X-files duo (they won't be in charge for long, fear not), keeping Mulder twisting in the wind, but I doubt it. Nothing against the actress, I just can't feel any connection between Mulder and Fowley outside of being thrown together on a case. Other than her similar mind-set, what did these two find so attractive in each other all those years ago and where has it gone? For her to be a real villain to me, I need to see some friction between her and Scully and some heat between her and Mulder, that is her role as the ex-lover/ex-partner, is it not?

- Plotholes, shmotholes, who cares anymore, eh? Well, then just indulge me while I vent. A full season after last mentioning their name, let's throw in a connection to Roush. Where were they in the movie, pray tell? And how the heck does a big slimey creature smothered in scientist blood amble down the streets of Phoenix without notice? He makes it a full 60 miles from Sandy's house to the nuclear power plant and nobody spots him? Must be some weird stuff going on in Phoenix. And how long does it take to fly to the States from The Philippines? Gibson's parents were flying in 7 months ago, where are they?! And tell me Cancer Man wasn't sending in a thug with a gun to kill the big bad alien, 'cause this man's been in the Antarctic and he knows how lethal they are. And why are Gibson and the alien still locked up in the plant at the end? Everyone's flown back to Washington and written their reports, what a shame we couldn't find that kid we cared so much about, oh well. It goes on and on ...

In the end, The Beginning left me cold and it's only redeeming quality came with the final scene's shocker that these killing-machine aliens evolve into little grey men. Maybe this whole myth-arc storyline really will connect somewhere down the road. Maybe it'll all make sense finally. Maybe I'll be glued to the boob tube next Sunday like the faithful sheep I am. You can count on that, but I'm not holding out on the others.

- While I can't identify where, I do agree with David Swinney's <http://xfiles.miningco.com/mbody.htm> observation that some snippets of Mark Snow's excellent movie score can be heard in the ep. Maybe when Mulder and Fowley are poking around in the plant, just before they reach the alien's hiding spot in the pipes. Any more?

- What exactly were we meant to infer by the shot of Mulder which faded into a shot of Spender? They look creepily alike, more so than I've noticed before, are they trying to tell us something? If Cancer Man is indeed Mulder's father, let's get it on the table and deal with it, these teases are becoming far too annoying.

- Here in Canada we missed out on the FOX network's countdown clock which I'm told started on Friday night. Caught a brief glimpse before "The Simpsons" and that one hour countdown was enough for me. Can't imagine watching it tick down for 2 days beforehand, give it a rest!

- Terrific casting choice with Rick Millikan playing Sandy. Oh, right, that would be because Rick has been the casting director for the show for so long he can spot 'em a mile away :-) Maybe he was waiting for just the right gruesome death and the chance to see his blood-splattered corpse's picture flashed in our faces a few dozen times. Whatever turns your crank, Rick.

- A.D. Maslin was an obvious nod to the film critic for "The New York Times" of the same name. Man, write a critical account of the movie and you're cast as the woman that rips the X-files out of Mulder and Scully's hands, nice.

- I counted two Simpsons references. The obvious one being the nuclear plant employee, Homer, and the other being the name of one of the A.D.s, Bart.

Quotes

A.D. Maslin: "Agent Mulder, I'm reading here a very pie-in-the-sky report about global domination

plans by vicious, long-clawed spacelings? Is there going to be data to back this

vague, omnibus account?"

Mulder: "Yes."

A.D. Bart: "I see your renowned arrogance has been left quite intact. You're asking us to accept

this report of a spaceship buried under polar ice and your death-defying escape from it?"

Mulder: "The ice had become superheated by the ship as it rose beneath us, causing the ice to

collapse."

A.D. Bart: "This entire story is essentially unintelligible and, therefore, encourages unintelligible

analysis."

Mulder: "Well, I was hoping that you'd look more closely at the reports of mine and Agent Scully's

medical conditions."

A.D. Arnold: "These spacelings, Agent Mulder... They weren't something I saw in 'Men In Black'?"

Mulder: (pause) "I didn't see 'Men In Black'."

A.D. Arnold: "Well, it's a damn good movie."

Mulder: "As much as this all may sound like science-fiction we can and will prove the validity of our

report."

A.D. Maslin: "And, so, the plot... I-I'm just trying to get this straight. The plot is for these spacelings

to take over the planet aided by a group of men here on earth?"

Mulder: "A shadow conspiracy within our own government."

A.D. Maslin: "Who are growing corn in the middle of the desert which features pollen which was

genetically altered to hold a virus which will be taken away by bees whose sting

transmits the virus, causing the growth of an extraterrestrial biological entity inside

the human host?"

Mulder: "Which we will prove now that the X-Files have been reopened."

A.D. Bart: "Your presumption is far greater than the case you make for that eventuality."

Mulder: "I'm not sure I understand."

A.D. Bart: "You're here to justify your reassignment on the X-Files with little more than a rattletrap

account of high adventure in the Antarctic."

A.D. Arnold: "Not to mention some very questionable travel expenses."

____________________________________________________________

Skinner walks in as Mulder works at piecing the burned X-files together

Skinner: "You're wasting your time."

Mulder: "You need evidence to justify our reassignment. I've just got to bring it back from the

ashes."

Skinner: "Nothing you might restore is going to help you, Agent Mulder. It's over and done. Your

reassignment on the X-Files has been denied."

Mulder: (angry) "How can it be denied? We're the only reason the X-Files were reopened in the first

place. There's no other reason to reopen them."

Skinner: "I'm not arguing..."

Mulder: "Well, then, who is?"

Skinner: "When will you accept that no amount of pressure or reason will bring to heel a conspiracy

whose members walk these halls with absolute impunity?"

Mulder: "Was there a vote?"

Skinner: (after a pregnant pause) "Unanimous against."

(Skinner looks at him apologetically. Mulder turns off his computer, collects his box full of files and heads for the door where Skinner still stands in the way)

Mulder: "Excuse me."

Skinner: (reluctantly stepping aside) "I'm no help to you outside the majority, Agent Mulder."

Mulder: "Inside or out, I don't see that there's a damn thing you can do for me."

Skinner: "You can break their backs, Agent Mulder, with the proof about this virus. Proof that what

you say it does is true."

Mulder: "I don't have that proof just yet."

Skinner: "Maybe I can give it to you. There's a file folder. It's on the desk in your old office."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "What are you doing in my office, Agent Spender?

Spender: "I think there's been a miscommunication. I think someone failed to inform you."

Mulder: "If you're about to tell me that you were sent down here to work on the X-Files I think the

failure is simple judgment. I don't care what patronage got you this job. I put my life in

here. I'm not going to let some brown-nose just slide in and take it all away from me."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "Diana, back on your feet. I guess that's the only way you could stab me in the back."

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "Mulder, I just want to remind you that by not informing local PD we are in technical violation

of state laws prohibiting contamination of a crime scene. (realizes he isn't listening, says

under her breath) Why do I bother?"

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "Aw. Somebody broke a nail."

Scully: "Is it animal?"

Mulder: "It ain't RuPaul."

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "What does it take? For this thing to come up and bite you on the ass? I saw these

creatures. I saw them burst to life. You would've seen them, too but you were infected with

that virus. You were passed out over my shoulder."

Scully: "Mulder, I know what you did. I know what happened to me but without ignoring the science,

I can't ... Listen, Mulder ... (she clasps his hand in hers) You told me that my science kept

you honest. That it made you question your assumptions. That by it, I'd made you a whole

person. If I change now ... It wouldn't be right ... or honest."

Mulder: "I'm talking about extraterrestrial life alive on this planet in our lifetime. Forces that dwarf

and precede all human history. I'm sorry, Scully, but this time your science is wrong."

(he walks away from her)

____________________________________________________________

Mulder: "Why are you here?"

Gibson: "They were using me 'cause I can communicate with it."

Scully: "Communicate with what?"

Gibson: "You already know. You just don't want to believe it."

____________________________________________________________

Fowley: "I couldn't say anything to you earlier. I was given this assignment, Fox, okay? They offered

it to me. I took the chance..."

Mulder: "I'm listening."

Fowley: "... to make sure someone served your interests. Someone who believes in the work. Hey,

you and I found the X-Files together. Don't forget that."

____________________________________________________________

Fowley: "Agent Spender and I got a call. We were on a plane within an hour in constant contact."

Mulder: "With who?"

Fowley: "The nuclear regulatory people. NRC was first on the scene. They found the victim but by

the time we got there it had been removed. We never saw the body."

Mulder: "Who removed it?"

Fowley: "I don't know. Couldn't get a straight answer. Then the NRC sealed off the Number Four

reactor due to a problem with the heat transfer systems. I believe that was legitimate."

Mulder: "Maybe that's why it's there. It wants heat. It needs heat. This thing gestated abnormally

fast. What if heat activates it? It could spur on the virus and the rapid development of the

entity. But it's still seeking heat. Why?"

Fowley: "What if it's still developing? You're not under the impression what we're looking for makes

sense in any conventional way?"

Mulder: "No."

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "We have to run some more tests, Gibson."

Gibson: "You want to make me well but you're just thinking about yourself and what you can learn

from me."

Scully: "You're a very special boy, Gibson. You know that yourself."

Gibson: "I'm a very special lab rat."

____________________________________________________________

A.D. Maslin: "As I said and as I am forced to reiterate, Agent Mulder, the FBI is not here for

vendettas or for the grinding of personal axes. Now, this holds not just for you but for

everyone at the Bureau. You force us to put a point on this. To make some hard

changes. You and Agent Scully will cease all material association with the X-Files.

Refusal to do so will end in immediate dismissal. A probationary period will be set.

You will now report to Assistant Director Kersh."

____________________________________________________________

Spender: "You're not supposed to come here. It's what was agreed to. It's the deal you made."

Cancer Man: "I had to congratulate you. Commend how you handled things. How you handled

Mulder."

Spender: "I did what I was asked."

Cancer Man: "You did well, son. He's on very thin ice now, you know?"

Spender: "Mulder will be back. As long as he lives, he won't give up."

Cancer Man: "Well, there's solutions, of course. Simple but extreme solutions. I've used these

methods. They have their place. But not here."

Spender: "You've killed men?"

Cancer Man: "You can kill a man but you can't kill what he stands for ... Not unless you first break

his spirit. That's a beautiful thing to see."

____________________________________________________________

Scully: "I don't doubt what you saw, Mulder. I don't doubt you. I'm willing to believe, but not in a lie

and not in the opposite of what I can prove. It comes down to a matter of trust. I guess it

always has."

Mulder: "You asking me to make a choice?"

Scully: "I'm asking you to trust my judgment. To trust me."

(she goes to hand him a file folder, he backs away thinking it's her report)

Mulder: "I can't accept that. Not if it refutes what I know to be true."

Scully: "Mulder, these are test results. DNA from the claw nail we found matching exactly the DNA

from the virus you believe is extraterrestrial."

(Mulder grabs the folder)

Mulder: "That's the connection."

Scully: "Which matches exactly DNA that was found in Gibson Praise."

Mulder: "Wait a minute. I don't understand. You're saying that Gibson Praise is infected with the virus?"

Scully: "No. It's a part of his DNA. In fact, it's a part of all of our DNA. It's called a genetic remnant.

It's inactive junk DNA. Except in Gibson it's turned on."

Mulder: "So if that were true, that would mean that Gibson is in some part extraterrestrial."